23 Aralık 2010 Perşembe

Medieval Near Eastern Societies

Non-Muslim Communities in the Early Islamic World

Ahl al-dhimma (“Protected People”): dhimmi
-obliged to pay poll tax (jizya) and land tax (kharaj)
-allowed to practice and organize own religion
-dhimmi women allowed to marry Muslim men (but not vice-versa); children would be Muslim
-conversion of Muslims not permitted
-allowed to hold positions in administration
-generally held to be inferior in social standing to Muslims

Revival of the Persian literary in the 10th c.:
Samanid dynasty (819-1005):
-Iranian aristocratic family
-establish a state in Eastern Iran and Central Asia

capital Bukhara
-active sponsorship of learning and New Persian literature (esp. poetry)
-translations from Arabic into Persian
-Shahnama (“Book of Kings”)
– Persian national epic of the pre-Islamic Iranian kings by the poet Firdawsi: highly influential text for later Iranian and Turkish societies.